Lakers' record-breaking sale pushes 2026 sports M&A to all-time high

The acquisition of the NBA's The Los Angeles Lakers Inc. for a record $12.5 billion has propelled 2026's sports team dealmaking to an all-time high, showing unabating investor interest in sports franchises.

Thrive Capital Management LLC founder Josh Kushner and former Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger have agreed to acquire the Lakers from Mark Walter, who purchased the club just one year prior for $10 billion from the Buss family. The transaction is pending approval from the National Basketball Association Inc.'s board of governors.

This deal follows the recent $9.6 billion acquisition of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks by venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, a transaction that also set a record for the league. Meanwhile, in Europe, private equity firm Apollo Sports Capital recently acquired a majority stake in Spanish soccer club Club Atlético de Madrid S.A.D., while English soccer club The Liverpool Football Club and Athletic Grounds Ltd. is reportedly negotiating the sale of a 30% stake to an investor consortium that includes Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos.

According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, the total value of sports team deals in 2026 has already reached $33 billion, surpassing the full-year total of $28 billion in 2025 and the $11.6 billion recorded in 2024.

The Lakers transaction further indicates that sports team valuations are expanding, with interest in these rare assets intensifying among investors, including financial sponsors.

"High net worth individuals and private equity are attracted to these assets because they are not correlated to the performance of the overall market," Sal Galatioto, a sports investment banker, told Market Intelligence.

This latest transaction is not only the largest on record but was also executed at the highest revenue multiple ever recorded. Kushner and Iger are paying a multiple of over 22x revenue, according to Market Intelligence's estimate. The previous record multiple was jointly held by Walter's 2025 acquisition of the Lakers and the 2022 purchase of the Phoenix Suns, another NBA franchise.

NFL and NBA franchises command the highest premiums in M&A transactions, with recent valuations consistently exceeding a 10x revenue multiple. In contrast, top European soccer clubs typically trade at a 6x revenue multiple, a valuation comparable to recent acquisitions of US hockey and baseball clubs.

Supporting increasing valuations are growing media rights deals. Ahead of the 2025 season, the NBA kicked off its historic 11-year partnership with rights holders Disney, Comcast Corp. and Amazon valued at $76 billion, or $6.9 billion annually, a 164.1% increase over the previous agreement.

Additionally, while NFL teams benefit from greater domestic popularity and larger media rights deals, the NBA's appeal to investors is amplified by its significant international popularity, which the NFL has yet to match.